The Other Swordsman : Alternate Paths
by Kegger007
Summary: Offshoots of the epic fic by Gary Thunder! With pieces about Tobias, the General, and others from this great fiction. Another author's look at Gary Thunder's characters! UPDATE! The General's rise to power.
1. Mad World

Written for Gary Thunder, author of The Other Swordsman, by Kegger007. I do not own Tobias, he is Gary Thunder's character, nor the General, nor Lasako, nor the cast of Inuyasha. The Song is Mad World, a cover of a Tears for Fears song off the Donnie Darko Soundtrack. I recommend it, it's hauntingly good. This takes place inside Tobias' head during the 59th chapter. Enjoy!

* * *

Tobias sat awake, as he did every night, while the campfire slowly burned in the middle of the clearing. Its dim glow cast haunting shadows across the forest, twisting everyday objects horribly until they became monstrous looking. 

_No more monstrous than I am._

**All around me are familiar faces  
Worn out places, Worn out faces**

His eyes fell across the sleeping forms of his present companions. Miroku, the stalwart monk who had been cursed with an enormous weapon, the Air Rip, that was more harmful to him than others. Beside him lay Sango, the demon- huntress who, like Miroku, had led a tough life in the past, her father destroyed before her own eyes.

_I lost an entire kingdom._

Then he noticed Inuyasha and Kagome laying together by the fire. The former was holding her in a protective embrace while the latter snuggled her face into his chest. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying but Inuyasha had finally calmed her down, as only a mate could. She promptly fell asleep, everyone else assuming it was from exhaustion, but Tobias knew better.

_I couldn't even help her when she came to me. I just pushed her away._

**Bright and early for the daily races  
Going nowhere, Going nowhere**

They had gotten an early nights rest so as to be ready to move at the crack of dawn. The General was always one or two steps ahead of them, taunting them or hurting them. Every day brought with it the possibility for a new hope, yet none surfaced. They awoke, traveled the forests, plains, mountains, towns of the Feudal Era, searching for a new answer, a new way to defeat the General. It had been fruitless, and now with the Bone Eaters Well destroyed, they couldn't move to the Modern Era to resupply, or to at least give Kagome a chance to rest. They had been chasing the General for months and had succeeded only in witnessing destruction.

_It's always the same. No matter how I try, it's always the same._

**Their tears are filling up their glasses  
No expression, No expression**

They were all emotionally torn up inside, though none of them showed it, save Kagome. It was always like this, through the centuries Tobias had plenty of time to witness the same sequence of events, only with different people. They tried to hide it for his sake, but on the inside they were being ripped apart by the strain and stress. All of the death and pain could be seen taking its toll on the group. He once noticed Sango with tears in the corners of her eyes, refusing to fall, but tears just the same. Miroku could often be seen praying to whatever god he held in high esteem, shaking slightly with nervous feelings and dread for what was to come. Inuyasha, like Tobias it seemed, wore a mask of apathy towards the majority of the destruction. He stood in front of Kagome as a wall to protect her from the evil that threatened to overwhelm them, but cracks could be seen appearing in his facade. If not for Kagome's sake he would have already taken on the General head on, and lost.

_I can't even beat him. It's a wonder I'm still alive._

**Hide my head I want to drown my sorrows  
No tomorrow, No tomorrow**

He glanced down to his lap at the gun sitting in the crook of his crossed legs. It's black, chrome surface beckoned to him, begging him to make use of its trigger. It was so simple really; to end all of his problems. He wouldn't have to face them anymore, hear their cries, hear their lamentations. In the simple movement of a finger, he could end his pain, his millennia old trek of despair and sorrow.

_So why can't I do it!_

**And I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sad  
These dreams in which I'm dying, Are the best I've ever had**

[_The General stood in the courtyard outside of a once-proud castle, which was now utterly destroyed by furious battle. He was bleeding heavily and was covered in burns, but he was nothing next to the boy next to him. Tobias lay face-up in the scorched grass. He was covered in blood. He still clutched his sword tightly in one hand, but could barely muster the strength to draw breath. The General leaned upon his sword, which glittered blue in the fading daylight. _

_"You're pathetic, boy," he muttered in his pronounced British accent. There was, for once, emotion in his words. "You got lucky today, but you know I'll always be the stronger one." He shifted uncomfortably. "I'm not gonna kill you now, boy. I want you to suffer." He spat at Tobias. "When I find you again, you just remember that I'm gonna kill you in as slowly and painfully a way as I can think of." _

_Tobias remained silent. He didn't have the energy to speak. "All those years, in your miserable father's court, waiting for the old fool to die so I could take over...I've had plenty of time to think of ways to kill you. Don't you worry." He painfully stood up, and began limping away. "Remember that, boy," he called out as he slowly walked away_.]

He had remembered the heat, remembered the stench of death that permeated the air, cloying his nostrils with its scent. It returned to him in dreams and haunted him in memories. It was always the same. The General let him live. _Let him live_. It was almost a slap in the face, as if the General knew the hardships that Tobias would have to face in his future. Sure the General had lost a wife, before his own eyes even, but had he lost his family more than once? Tobias had witnessed the destruction of his entire family and kingdom, and then when he gained new friends, he watched the General destroy them. And again. And again. And again. It always happened the same way, never once had someone besides Tobias escaped the General's grasp.

_Is this my punishment? My slow death?_

**I find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to take  
When people run in circles its a very very**

Tobias felt like he was coming apart at the seams. He could only take so much pain, fear, and sorrow. The scenario played over and over in his mind. He would meet friends, the General would arrive, and soon he'd be on his own again, leaving a field of corpses behind. He wondered why he continued on, why he found new friends. It couldn't be that he was lonely; he'd been that way for many centuries. He continued to meet new people only to have the General take them away. Most recently he'd met Lasako, yet she had rarely seen him, and now wouldn't with the well's destruction.

_Gods Lasako, I've abandoned you too._

**Mad World**

Tears slipped between Tobias' fingers, coating the gun with their sorrow.

**Mad World**

Tobias reached into his pocket, pulling out some bullets, and began to load them into the chamber.

**Children waiting for the day they feel good  
Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday**

And then there had been Kagome's child, gods how could he forget that. A candle snuffed out before it could even bring light into the world. How Kagome could still move on he didn't know, though it tore him to shreds to witness her pain over the loss of her unborn child. It had affected them all. They had all banded together in mourning, sharing in the pain of Kagome and Inuyasha, and while it may have brought them together as a group, it only served to sear Tobias inside. All he had to do to reopen old wounds was to look at Kagome's sad face, and imagine what would have been without him around.

_The General would never have bothered them had I not been around._

**And they feel the way that every child should  
Sit and listen, Sit and listen**

They had paid attention to him in the beginning. They had followed him into this fools errand wholeheartedly. He gained their trust; they believed in him and his quest. They trusted him. That trust came at a high price. Now their lives were most certainly forfeit. Once the General caught up to them at some point, there would be little that Tobias or Inuyasha could do to defeat him. He wasn't worried about himself or Inuyasha, for they had lived long already, nor was he worried about Miroku and Sango; living in the feudal carried with it the threat of death. No, he feared for poor Kagome, a girl still in her teens who hadn't even left home to start her own life, having it forfeit for her through his own foolish quest.

_I doomed her by simply talking to her._

**Went to school and I was very nervous  
No one knew me, No one knew me**

So he put forth a mask to keep everyone else happy, to keep their hopes alive. He always hinted at ways to defeat the General; after all, why was he still chasing a goal if he couldn't defeat it? He showed them the good life in the Modern Era when he first met them, which helped him gain their trust. To them he was an invincible force, a man who couldn't die. They knew him as a man with a magical sword, one capable of utilizing his fiery heart as a weapon, throwing off huge elemental attacks. They knew his curiously strong armour and ability to hold his liquor, his strange sense of humour and large fortune.

_But they don't 'know' me._

**Hello teacher tell me whats my lesson  
Look right through me, Look right through me**

They saw him as able to be carefree, but he'd been taught the cold, harsh reality of life by the General himself: people die, so don't get close to them. The General saw through his show of bravado. He knew the past all too well. He saw Tobias as a scared little boy from the kingdom of Alarion, and he was right. Inside the shell of armour lay a boy who never got to fully live out his childhood, being thrust into the cold world at a young age. He was just a whimpering, scared, sniveling, small child, who had been given a big sword and an even bigger task, one he hadn't been prepared for.

_And now that my time is at hand, I've turned my back on it._

**And I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sad  
The dreams in which I'm dying, Are the best I've ever had**

He chuckled sadly to himself. If he had met these people without the threat of the General hanging over him, he would have gladly accepted their friendship and lived a happier life. He dreamed he had died and gone to heaven, meeting them in the afterlife and living with them in a large, rebuilt, more modern version of Alarion, ruling with his father and his brother, Marcus. He dreamt of the General's sword protruding out of his chest, his arms and legs severed, himself in unbelievable pain. But he was happy. He was happy to be dying because he knew he'd see all his old friends, his father, his brother, and even Lasako eventually.

_The General has the right idea. I should die._

**I find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to take  
When people run in circles it's a very very**

He couldn't really explain his situation to another. They wouldn't understand. Even Kagome, with all that had happened in her life, would not understand. Despite the dangers they each faced, they were all much too sheltered. Tobias knew better, he knew how cold and harsh the world was. He knew the joy of living one moment and the pain coursing through the next.

_What is the point of it all?_

**Mad World**

He reached into his lap and placed his cold, sweating fingers around the gun's handle.

_I have to end the cycle, no more pain._

**Mad World**

He cocked the hammer back on the gun, locking a bullet in the chamber.

_Father, Marcus, I'm sorry._

**Enlarging your world**

A large crack echoed across the forest, the gunshot scaring birds, who winged into the sky as the sun awakened on the horizon, ready to shine its vermilion glow upon the world, a beautiful array of colours cascading through the clouds.

**Mad World**


	2. Gimme The Prize

Author Note: Hey everybody! I've wanted to write another offshoot of The Other Swordsman, and since Gary Thunder has given me permission, here I am! This one is about the General, so I hope everyone enjoys it. I do not own The General, Tobias, or any other original piece created by Gary Thunder, and I do not own Inuyasha. I don't own the song Gimme The Prize, that one is by Queen (bold lettering comes from the song). Enjoy!

_**The Other Swordsman:** Gimme The Prize_

The air shimmered with sweltering heat, becoming so thick as so one wouldn't breath it, they would seem more to drink it. Indeed the city smog had become trapped at ground level and the temperature rose by several degrees in the urban canyons of Tokyo. As with all heat waves, as the temperature rose to the boiling point, so too did the tempers of those caught in afternoon traffic. It hadn't taken long for an accident to occur, setting off a chain reaction of fender benders all throughout the streets winding and linking the downtown core. Patience snapped and voices sniped back and forth at each other, one accusing another of fault.

"Chattering little fools," a voice with a pronounced British accent muttered. He was sitting in the frame of an apartment window, surveying the city below him during the noon hour rush. The General turned from the window sill and walked back into the confines of the air conditioned apartment.

"Bloody insects," he said of the people below. He didn't own the apartment per se, but had merely appropriated it for his purposes. He walked over the beat up couch and sat down, relaxing before he left to complete his task. The television flickered on, the result of him using the curious remote controls that had been invented in modern times. The screen glowed alive as he caught the tail end of a news report.

**"..garage and water from the sprinklers. It also left a man's decapitated body lying on the floor next to his own severed head, a head which at this time has no name**."

The General let slip one of his rare smirks, "**I know his name**."

**Here I am **

**I'm the master of your destiny**

So it was with anyone who tried to cross him. It was a simple rule to follow, though man was not infallible and still strayed his hand from time to time. This particular officer from his own army had felt that he could try to steal the General's sword, thereby gaining the incredible powers of ice and longevity, allowing him to attempt to overthrow the General.

_Hmph,_ he grunted, _Attempt is the key word._

**I am the one the only one **

**I am the god of kingdom come**

The problem that came with going against the General was also the prize for defeating him: the icy sword. Anyone going up against him soon found that trying to defeat him in battle was like trying to defeat a god. When he fought in battle using his sword, he was a god. A living_ god._ With the sword in his possession, all of his reflexes increased by unfathomable numbers. His strength rose dramatically and all of his senses were heightened. He even had the ability to teleport at times, defying all known laws of logic and reality. The sword itself was more than razor sharp, better than any sword ever smithied; Native American tomahawks, Aztec ceremonial daggers, British longswords, Arabic scimitars, and even Japanese katanas paled in comparison to the cutting power of his sword.

**Gimme the prize **

**Just gimme the prize**

With the power of the gods came great ambition. He knew that there was something out there worthy of his skills, he had just been taking the time to find it, and though he was currently taking a break from his quest, he had only to break a few more of the sacred seals barring him from his goal.

_It should not be as difficult as it is to break those seals_, he mused. _After all, it was I who created them, all those thousands of years ago._

If not for that troublesome Tobias and his friends, he could have concentrated more clearly on his goal.

_That stupid boy is always in my way._

**Give me your kings **

**Let me squeeze then in my hands**

_Ever since I crushed Alarion has he been on my back._

Alarion had been the first target of the General's wrath. First he had turned on the officers of his former army.

[_The town was quiet as the General strode confidently towards the first barracks complex he could find. With a glare and a mighty kick, the iron door was blown off it's hinges, crushing the man standing guard on the inside. The General strode over the downed portal, further crushing the man underneath as dark blood oozed out from underneath. Before the other guard could throw up an alarm, the General grabbed him by the neck, crushing his throat with one hand and tossing him casually into the wall._

_"Who goes there!" a startled guard shouted as he ran around the corner. He gave a gurgled cry as he ran into the butt of the General's sword before dropping to the ground in a ragged heap, unconscious. He turned to the main support strut of the building, and with a swift chop, he brought the entire building down, crushing all those inside.]_

**Your puny princes **

**Your so called leaders of your land**

The first wave of soldiers had not lasted long. That was when he had turned his attention towards the castle.

_To kill a snake you must cut off its head, _he mused as he continued watching the news.

_[With a mighty leap he cleared the courtyard across from the castle. Landing on one of the ornately decorated parapets, he ran along the upper walkway, pitching a passing guard over the side to fall down below into the moat. He spied the large open windows that led into the King's main audience chamber, where he and the members of council were holding a council meeting. He landed amid their numbers, startling them out of the world of internal politics and into their immediate situation._

_"You!" the King sneered._

_"Yes," the General replied, "Me."_

_"Guards, quickly!" one of the councilors ordered._

_The General promptly swung his sword in a large arc, severing the heads of the circle of council members, "Motion denied," he said coldly._

_"What do you want!" the King trembled, moving to protect the Queen._

_"My recognition," said the General as he leveled his sword at the monarchs. "_Biting Cold!" _he yelled, a blast of frigid air coming off of his sword as it glowed blue. Within moments the King and his Queen were encased in tombs of ice.]_

The General flipped channels, currently bored with his little vacation. He almost chuckled, remembering when he had finally finished off the final bastion of strength in Alarion.

**I'll eat them whole before I'm done **

**The battle's fought and the game is won**

That was the entire point. It was a game. Almost like the ones these modern humans play on their television sets. He, the General, was a living god, and as such, could not allow any others to challenge his supremacy. Marcus had been the first.

_[He strode out into the courtyard confidently as he counted the number of men arrayed before him. Raising his sword, he smirked and gave off another blue glow._

"Biting Crystal_!" he commanded as his sword fired many blue beams at the troops, each beam hardening into a long sickle of ice, stabbing through their ranks and impaling tens of soldiers on each. Not a single man escaped from being skewered. Alarion's finest, all wiped out with one blast from the General's sword._

_"GENERAL!" a loud, strong voice bellowed. He whirled to bring his sword up, blue meeting golden yellow as Marcus, prince and general of Alarion brought his sword crashing against the General's. _

_"Ahh, Marcus, how have you been?" the General asked coolly, only succeeding in raising even more ire out of Marcus._

_"I will kill you for what you have done!" he vowed, his golden sword raised for another blow._

_"Hmph," the General grunted, raising his own weapon.]_

**I am the one the only one **

**I am the god of kingdom come**

In a clash of gods, he could easily prove his strength against another. Whether it be from man, mortal, or even supernatural, he would fight to the death, be it his opponent's or his. Marcus had learned that lesson the hard way.

_[Marcus leapt backwards, parrying a stab thrown by the General before planting his feet on the side of a building and leaping forward, sword held outwards in an attempt to take the General's head off, as well as most of his shoulders. However, the General was prepared for this, brining his cold blue steel up against the brilliant gold of Marcus' own sword before planting his foot in Marcus' midsection and flipping him through an open window._

_"It seems you fare no better than your men," said the General._

_A roar came from within the house Marcus had fell through._

_"_THUNDER RAGE!"

_An enormous glowing blast all but obliterated the house, lightning coming down from the clouds above to strike the General and lift him into the air, where countless other beams hit him and held him in place before exploding into shocks of electricity._

_Marcus smiled up at him, savouring his moment of victory._]

**Gimme the prize **

**just gimme the prize**

Many had tried to defeat him in the past, but none had succeeded. Potions, magic, curses, hexes, poisons, arrows, fire, bombs, cannons, nothing had been able to stop him. Even the wretched boy Tobias, for all his effort, could not stop him. The General looked at his watch.

_I will deal with him soon, just as I did with his brother, _he mused.

_[ "It seems you underestimated me General," Marcus spat with contempt as he walked over to the General's prone body. He swiped downwards with his sword with a severing blow. His advance was halted by a glittering blue blade, rising to meet his own._

_"Never overestimate yourself," said the General's muffled voice as he rose off of the ground._

_Marcus knocked his blade away and stepped back a few feet, astonished that the General could withstand such a blast._

_"**Now you die**," came the General's cold voice as he rained blow upon blow on Marcus, who could barely deflect each hit. Soon he found himself being cut all over, some small cuts, others long angry gashes along his chest and back. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his brother, causing him to hitch for a moment in his fight, allowing the General to sever his hands with one swift stroke._

_As Marcus fell to the ground, bleeding profusely from the severed stumps of his forearms, the General advanced coldly, sword beginning to glow bright blue with his impending attack._

_"**I have something to say**," he began slowly as he raised his sword, "**It's better to burn out than to fade away**."_

_His sword of ice shimmered in brightness much like that of an aurora as he called out his final attack. His eyes caught those of Tobias before he rained down the final blow._

_"**There can be only one**_**!**"_]_

After the defeat of Alarion he had moved onwards to other Kingdoms, setting his sights on Mistaria.

**Move over **

**I said move over **

**Hey hey hey clear the way**

The King had refused to pay him for what the kingdom was worth, so he decided to test the strength of his abilities once more. After all, it was only a game.

_[An army of almost a million soldiers arrayed itself before him, behind them the mighty capital of Mistaria loomed, war machine platforms with payloads at the ready. As the front ranks advanced across the battlefield towards him, the General restrained the urge to chuckle. Arrows began to rain down around him, peppering the earth where he stood. Trebuchet unleashed enormous boulders towards him, the first wave coming no where near his position. He sighed as he looked upon the assembled soldiers in various formation, box and phalanx._

Like leading lambs to slaughter, _he thought to himself._

_He was going to kill all of them. Individually. Every single one. It would take a long time; hours, perhaps days. But to the General, every second would be worth it._

_A hundred thousand archers lifted their bows to the sky, firing them in sync. The sky darkened as numberless arrows flew towards him. He smiled slightly, closed his eyes, and sheathed his sword._

This...should be entertaining._]_

**There's no escape from my authority - **

**Didn't I tell you I am the one the only one **

**I am the god of kingdom come**

Even that fool Naraku had fallen before the might of his sword. For over three months he had taken orders from that idiot, bowing, kneeling, and supplicating before him as a sign of respect. He had come close to the breaking point on numerous occasions, however the ability of patience needed by his sword allowed him to wait it out. Soon enough, he found his own sword embedded in that fool's back.

_How great it was to chop that man into pieces._

The alarm he set went off, letting him know it was time to return to the past. Since he had collected all of the shards, it had allowed him to create his own portal to the future, letting him take his own mini-vacation.

_But now it is time to go back to work._

**Gimme the prize**

_It is time to take what is mine._

**Just gimme the prize**

He stood up and walked out the door, using his speed to reach the new location of his portal the past.

_But first, I must remedy a problem._

**I am the one the only one **

**I am the god of kingdom come**

He returned to the feudal era easily, finding himself at the entrance of his base complex. He strode into the main facility to gain information before heading back out into the forest, setting off at high speed.

**Gimme the prize**

He stepped into a clearing where a small fire could be seen. No one sat around it save for one man, who's black armour was starkly contrasted by his fiery red hair. The General strode forward, sword drawn.

"You!" said Tobias.

"Yes boy, me," the General replied casually. Both men readied themselves before charging across the clearing at one another.

**"THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!"**

Author note: Hope you liked it! For the few of you who actually read this...please review! Let me know what you thought!


End file.
